Discovery of Empty Chemical Warheads in Iraq - 2003-01-16

United Nations observers in Iraq, continuing their efforts to find weapons of mass destruction, discovered several empty chemical warheads. Hiro Ueki, a spokesperson for the United Nations, did not assess the significance of this discovery, which occurred during today's inspection of a weapons storage facility. He stated that eleven empty chemical warheads found in excellent condition in an underground storage facility in Iraq will be thoroughly analyzed. This development comes as Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, announced that he would formally request the United Nations Security Council to extend the mission of UN weapons inspectors in Iraq for several months so that they can complete their operations to find banned weapons in the country. ElBaradei told reporters today at the end of his discussions with Russian officials in Moscow that the inspectors in Iraq intend to intensify their work in the coming weeks and months. On the other hand, Hans Blix, head of the UN weapons inspectors, described the situation in Iraq as tense and dangerous at the end of his discussions with European Union officials in Brussels, stating that inspectors have found illegal imports during their operations but did not provide further details or specify the location where these imports were found. Meanwhile, UN weapons inspectors in Iraq made a surprise visit to the residences of Iraqi scientists for the first time. The latest report of the empty chemical warheads found in excellent condition in an underground storage facility in Iraq will be thoroughly analyzed. John Negroponte, the US ambassador to the United Nations, called this development interesting but stated that more information is needed in this regard. The release of this news has raised concerns that a war with Iraq could suddenly disrupt oil production.